Cigarette having a blind conduit

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a cigarette, a cigar, a pipe or a plug of tobacco for pipes, comprising an internal fresh air admission conduit and means for causing said fresh air to pass through the shredded tobacco, thereby enabling the toxicity of the smoke to be reduced by increasing the condensation of the toxic vapors and increasing the quantity of external fresh air drawn-in. According to the invention, these means take the form of a fluid-tight bottom wall arranged in the air-admission conduit so as to form a deflection screen for the fresh air. The fluid-tight bottom wall is placed close to the suction extremity.

1451 Sept. 16, 1975 United States Patent 1191 Yatrides BartolomeoBernhard Miller Ellis et al..

Bell et Heskett et Primary ExaminerRobert W. Michell AssistantExaminerV. Millin Attorney, Agent, or F irmYoung & Thompson [57]ABSTRACT The invention relates to a cigarette, a cigar, a pipe or a plugof tobacco for pipes, comprising an internal fresh air admission conduitand means for causing said fresh air to pass through the shreddedtobacco, thereby enabling the toxicity of the smoke to be reduced byincreasing the condensation of the toxic vapors and increasing thequantity of external fresh air drawn-in. According to the invention,these means take the form of a fluid-tight bottom wall arranged in theair-admission conduit so as to form a deflection screen for the freshair. The fluid-tight bottom wall is placed close to the suctionextremity.

7 Claims, 17 Drawing Figures A24B 15/027; A24D 1/04;

131/4 B UX 108,395, Jan. 21,

A24F 25/00 131/8, 9, 10 R, 10.5, 10.7, 131/109, 11, 210, 266,197,131/201,135,1ss, 189

' [21] Appl. No.: 423,582

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No.

abandoned.

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 23, 1970 [51] Int. Cl. [58]Field of Search [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,437,95612/1922 2,349,551 5/1944 He1m.... 2,949,116 8/1960Ba1kind...............,.

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PATEMEB EPWBYB I 3 905 377 SHEET 1 [IF 3 I PATERTEU 5E?! 75 SHEET 3 [IF3 a pipe and a plug of tabacco for pipes, comprising an internal intakeconduit for'fresh air, enabling the toxic nature ofthe smoke=to bereduced by increasing the condensation of thetoxic vapors andincreasing'the quantity of fresh air admitted. Y

in order to reduce the ill effects on health of-certain toxicconstituents of tobacco smoke, a purification of 'the smoke is effectedby filtering elements which are placed at the end of the cigarette.These filtering elements have a fairly limited effectiveness and onlyproduce very partial condensation of the toxic vapors. In

order to increase this effect, it has alsobeen proposed to cause freshair to be admitted in thevicinity of the suction extremity of acigarette byperforations formed in the outer wrapping of the cigarette,or alternatively it has been proposed to smoke cigarettes through theintermediary of cigarette-holders provided with small lateral openingsfor the admission of external air. Both these expedients are not verypractical, to the extent that they necessitate theuse of an auxiliaryequipment.

On the other hand, the method of purification employed, which consistsof cooling down the tobacco smoke in the vicinity of the suctionextremity by means of lateral perforations is not very rational, sincethe suction of this fresh air is effected with a small loss of pressure,at least in the. first phase of combustion, which has a tendency toreduce considerably the effect of draught through the source ofcombustion. In the case of a cigarette holder with lateral orifices, itwill furthermore be observed that the cooling of the smoke is effectedafter it has left the pack of tobacco, so that the effect ofcondensation on the tobacco smoke is considerably reduced due to thenon-existence ofa. condensation support, constituted in the othercase bythe shreds of tobacco.

It has further been proposed to reduce theill effects of the cigaretteor cigar, this conduit being perforated or not. Means of this kind haveshown certain disadvan tages. it has in fact been observed that apreferential air admission is produced at the level of the air admissionconduit, while the draught through' the shreds of tabacco issubstantially reduced. There in fact only obtained a reduction in thesmoke temperature, without thereby causing either condensation of thesmoke or reduction of its toxi c vapors, and this air and this smoke,circulating in parallel, reach the smokers mouth at the same time.

It has also been proposed, especially in the manufacture of cigars, toassociate the central conduit with small lateral conduits opening intothe periphery of the said cigar. In this arrangement, the lateralconduits permit the admission of ambient air, with or without suction,with a small loss in pressure, whereas the smoke passing through thetobacco has 'to overcome a high pressure loss. In addition, the airadmitted to the main conduit is hindered and prevented from circulatingfreely and completely in the pack of tobacco, so that it cannot resultin progressive condensation along the pack of tobacco. i v I in pipes,purification of the smoke is generally carried out by elements which areintroduced into the interior of the stem of the pipe. These elements areprovided in the form of a helicoidal member which increases the lengthof travel of the smoke and gives it a whirlingmovement which has theeffect of depositing part of the nicotine along the said helicoidalmember. The purification of the smoke in such a device is far from beingsatisfactory and in order to improve this purification, it has beenproposed to introduce into the pipe stem a filtering element which canbe easily changed when the filter material is charged with nicotine.

These purification elements have disadvantages, and while theypermit thetemperature of the smoke to be reduced, theyproduce in fact only a verypartial condensation of the toxic vapors.

The present invention has for its object to cause the condensation ofthe smoke and and the reduction of the toxic vapors by arranging asimple and effective device in the interior of cigarettes, cigars, pipesand plugs of. tobacco for pipes.

The present invention relates to a cigarette, a cigar, a pipe, a plug oftobacco for pipes or the like, compris' ing a pack of tobacco with anexternal wrapper and leaving free an end opening intended to form theinitial combustion source, and a zone distant from the opening of-theinitial source, intended to constitute the suc tion opening, at leastone substantially permeable airadmission conduit, free from tobacco,extending from the end opening of the initial source of combustion atwhich itnopens to the free air, to the said suction open- I ing, meansbeing provided in order that the airadmission conduit may be blind onthe side of the suction opening and has a fluid-tight bottom wall.

According to the invention, the fluid-tight bottom wall is obtained bymeans such as pastilles, spheres, solid cylinders or the like which forman obstacle to the smoke. This air-admission conduit which passes intothe pack of tobacco or its immediate vicinity makes it possible toensure a substantial cooling of the smoke circulating in the pack oftobacco, by means of this current of extema] air practically free fromtoxic vapors and nearly at ambient temperature. The fluid-tight bottomwall of the conduit compels the fresh air to pass through the pack oftobacco, and this supplement of auxiliary air has a further effect ofensuring, at a point located upstream of the suction extremity, amixture of the smoke with a substantial quantity of external fresh air.In this way, the smoke drawn-in has a very much lower 'degree oftoxicity, on the one hand due to the 'fact that the tobacco smoke is ata lower temperature,

and on the other hand because it has a lower content of toxic vapors byvirtue of the increase in the rate of condensation resulting from thelower temperature, and also because of the additional supply of freshexternal air.

According to one form of embodiment of the invention, the blindair-admission conduit with a fluid-tight bottom stops at a certaindistance from the suction opening, or on the contrary it extends rightthrough from the opening of the initial combustion source to the suctionopening.

According to another form of embodiment of the invention, thisair-admission conduit may be formed by mere agglomeration of shreds oftobacco to form an elongated cylindrical conduit inside the pack oftobacco, either with a wrapper which can itself be of paper, tobacco,either with a wrapper which can itself be of paper, tobaccoleaf, or evenof a material which is more or less rigid and preferably combustible.The fluid-tight bottom wall of the airadmission conduit may either bevisible from the side of the suction extremity or embedded in thetobacco, or fixed to a filter tip. In the case where the conduit isformed by a wall of a sheet of paper, tobacco, or a tube of othermaterial, this conduit wall may be permeable or perforated with smallholes forming passage clearances permitting the fresh air admitted tothe conduit to pass into the pack of tobacco. The air-intake conduit maybe single or alternatively it may be associated with one or more otherconduits. The conduit is preferably of circular section, but it may haveany other section, oval, polygonal or the like. The air-admissionconduit is advantageously an axial conduit, but an eccentric conduit oreven a conduit arranged at the lateral periphery of the pack of tobaccoalso ensures a substantially-purifying effect on the smoke. I

certain characteristic features and advantages of the invention will bemore clearly understood from the description which follows below by wayof example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly in section and partly broken away,of a cigarette according to the invention;

FIGS. 2 to 6 are views similar to FIG. 1, showing other alternativeforms of embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a partial view in perspective, with parts broken away of acigar according to the invention;

FIG. 8 is another alternative form of a cigar according to theinvention;

FIG. 9 is a view in partial section of a pipe in which the bowlcomprises an auxiliary conduit according to the invention.

FIG. 10 is a view in partial section of a pipe in which the bowlcomprises an auxiliary air conduit following an alternative form ofconstruction;

FIGS. 11 to 16 are perspective views in partial section of plugs oftobacco for use in a pipe according to the invention;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of an air-admission conduit according tothe invention.

Referring now to FIG. I, it can be seen that a cigarette comprises apack of tobacco 1, enclosed in an outer wrapper of paper or tabacco-leaf2, leaving free a suction extremity 3 and an initial combustion sourceextremity 4. In the pack of tobacco 1 is formed a blind axial conduit 5,extending from the initial combustion opening 4 to an extremity locatedat a certain distance from the suction extremity 3. The blind extremityof the conduit 5 is closed by a non-permeable bottom wall 6 which isshown in the form of a pastille having a section at least equal to thatof the conduit 5. As can be seen from the drawing, this conduit 5 has asubstantial section, for example of the order of one-third of the totalsection, and preferably between one-eighth and one-half of the totalsection, and it is formed by a simple agglomeration of shredded tobacco,without any outer support.

As has previously been explained, the tobacco smoke which flows in thedirection of the arrow f becomes mixed and cooled by secondary currentsof fresh air f admitted through the conduit 5, these air currents beingdiverted by the pastille 6 into the pack of tobacco 1. This suction offresh air causes a progressive condensation of the smoke by reduction ofits temperature, and a reduction in the content of toxic vapors.

In the alternative form of embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the blindair-intake conduit 25 in a cigarette 21 is in this case formed by a tube27 of cylindrical shape, having a circular section, as at 27a, or oval,as at 27!), or even polygonal, as shown at 27c, and closed at itsextremity directed towards the suction extremity of the cigarette by animpermeable bottom. This conduit may be provided with perforationopenings 28, either circular, as shown at 28a, or rectangular, as shownat 28h, or oval, as shown at 286'.

It will be noted that in this form of embodiment, the air-admissionconduit 25 extends right through from the suction extremity 23 to theinitial extremity 24, with a bottom wall fluid-tight and located towardsthe suction extremity and preferably at a certain distance from the endof the conduit.

In FIG. 3, the pack of tobacco 31 in its wrapper 32 incorporates a pipe37 of combustible or other material, with perforations 38, this pipe 37having a pointed extremity 39 and being intended to be inserted by thesmoker in the body of a cigarette. This pointed extremity 39 constitutesthe fluid-tight bottom wall which compels the flow of fresh air to passthrough the pack of tobacco 31 so as to be mixed with the tobacco smoke.

In accordance with FIG. 4, the air-admission conduit 45 is in this casenot arranged axially as in the previous cases, but considerablyeccentric as will be seen from the drawing. In certain cases, thisarrangement may permit an easier manufacture; in this case in fact,strict accuracy in manufacture would not be required.

Referring now to FIG. 5, it is seen that the airadmission conduit 55with perforations 58 is no longer formed by a cylindrical surface as inFIGS. 1 to 4, but is slightly frusto-conical, and its smaller section at56 is located on the side of the suction extremity 53. The conduit is inthis case formed by a tube of paper, and it is terminated in afluid-tight bottom wall 57, but it is obvious that the conduit couldadvantageously be formed by tobacco leaves or by a more or less rigid material, preferably combustible, the bottom wall being formed by apastille, as shown in FIG. I.

In the form of embodiment shown in FIG. 6 and for the purpose offacilitating manufacture, the cylinder 68 may be preceded by anotherhollow cylinder 69 slightly projecting from the cigarette (combustionside) which the smoker removes when he wishes to smoke. The associationof the two cylinders permits easy manufacture of the conduit and holdsthis latter intact in its packet or bundle, even if the latter isroughly handled. In an alternative form of construction, the twocylinders 68 and 69 may be fitted one into the other, but the cylinder69 may also be associated with the pastille 6 previously described.

Referring now to FIG. 7, it can be seen that a cigar is formed bytobacco leaves 71 rolled in such manner at to leave free an axialconduit 72, in which the extremity opposite to that of the initialcombustion is closed in a fluid-tight manner by one of the devices previously described. The sheets of tobacco are previously perforated, asshown at 73 so as to form a plurality of sinuous branch passagespermitting the introduction of fresh air round the conduit 72 into theactual centre of the pack of tobacco.

According to the form of embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the blind axialconduit 80, formed in the manner previously described by rollingtogether leaves 81, is asso ciated with branch conduits 83 extendingradially from the axial conduit 80. Such branch conduits 83 are made.after the manufacture of the cigar, by an appropriate apparatus whichhas furthermore served as a mandrel for the manufacture of the conduit80.

The invention provides for the construction of the fluid-tight bottomwall of an sweet-smelling material (mentholated for example) or of anodoriferous mate- 'rial, not necessarily having an agreable odour, whichat the time of its combustion notifies the smoker of the necessity ofstopping smoking the cigarette or cigar in question.

Referring now to FIG. 9, it is seen that a pipe 90 with its how] 91 isadapted to receive a plug of tobacco 92 which is placed round an axialconduit 93 provided with perforations 94, this tube 93 being fixed byits base on the outlet 95 of the suction conduit of smoke from the pipethrough the intermediary of a support 97 which frees an annular passage96. The tube 93 has a fluidtight blind bottom, and the fresh airdrawn-in through the axial conduit 93 passes through the perforations94, following the circuit indicated by the arrow f, passes into the packof tobacco in which it becomes mixed with the smoke and passes outthrough the annular space 96 so as to be drawn into the stem 95.

In an alternative form of construction shown in FIG. 10, beforeintroducing the pack of tobacco into the interior of the bowl 91, a ring107 is incorporated around the axial conduit 103 provided as in the caseof FIG. 9 This ring 107 is a filtering element put in position beforethe smoking tobacco and which can be made for example withpre-agglomerated tobacco, sweetsmelling or odoriferous, or with anyother material which can be used for conventional filtration of thesmoke. ,1

In the two cases described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10, the axialconduit and its support may be made in a single piece so as to be amonobloc construction, the unit being placed in slots provided for thatpurpose and formed at the outlet of the suction conduit of the pipe.

Different types of plugs are provided so as to be fitted into the pipespreviously described, or into conventional pipes. FIG. 11 is an exampleof construction of a plug of tobacco which comprises a pack of tobacco110 with an axial conduit 111 extending from one end of the pack oftobacco to the other, namely from the initial combustion opening to thesuction opening. The conduit 111 is given a diameter slightly greaterthan that of the axial conduit of the pipe, so that it can be easilyintroduced into the bowl.

Referring now to FIG. 12, the plug of tobacco identical with thatdescribed in FIG. 11, comprises a pack of tobacco 120 with an axialconduit 121, and the base of the plug is provided with a circular ringof a material which may advantageouly be sweet-smelling or odoriferous.indicating to the smoker the necessity of stopping smoking as soon as itbegins to be consumed.

FIG. 13 shows an alternative form of construction of a plug of tobaccofor pipes designed without a conduit, formed by a pack of tobacco 130,an axial conduit 131 extending partially over part of the plug body fromthe extremity of the initial combustion source towards the suctionextremity, this conduit being blind and being closed at the bottom by afluid-tight wall 132. With this fluid-tight wall there is obtained thesame fresh-air circuit so as to mix this latter with the smoke, as inthe case shown in FIG. 9. I

In an alternative form of this construction shown in FIG. 14, the packof tobacco with its axial conduit 141 and its fluid-tight bottom wall132 is provided at its periphery and at its base with a ring 143 which,as in the case of FIG. 12, may be sweet-smelling or odoriferous, againfor the purpose of telling the smoker that the plug of tobacco is almostentirely consumed, and that .there is danger in going beyond this limit.

According to a further foem of embodiment shown in FIG. 15, thefluid-tight bottom wall which is intended to close the axial conduit isconstituted by a a full or partly full cylinder 152 placed at thesuction side extremity of the axial conduit 151, which extends on eachside of the pack of tobacco 150. This construction provides twopossibilities of use, either to use this plug of tobacco in aconventional pipe or to employ it in a pipe of the kind described inFIGS. 9 and 10, that is to say comprising an axial conduit incorporatedin the pipe. In this case, it will be necessary to remove the fullcylinder 152 and there is then obtained a plug in accordance with thatshown in FIG. 11. 1

As has been described in FIG. 6 for the production of cigarettes, theremay advantageously be arranged in the pack of tobacco a hollow cylinder153 which will for example precede the cylinder 1 52 and which is to beremoved at the time of consumption of the plug of tobacco. This cylinderhas the purpose of facilitating the formation of the axial conduit 151and to protect this latter from possible crushing at the time ofbundling together in packets.

FIGS. 9 the case of pipes which are not designed to receive an axialconduit such as that described in FIGS.9 and 10 and which the smokerdoes not wish to have adapted to plugs of tobacco designed withconduits, there is provided an axial removable conduit shown in FIG. 7,which is constituted by a tube provided with perforations 171, oneextremity of which is provided with a pointed fluid-tight end 172. Thisend portion 172 may be fixed to the tube 170 or it may be removable. Forits utilization, it is only necessary in insert the conduit providedwith the end portion in the plug of tobacco until the pointed end 172slightly projects from the lower extremity so as to form, with theoutlet of the suction tube of the pipe, an annular space to permit thepassage of the air-smoke mixture. The tube 170 may be removed at thatmoment when ready to smoke the pipe and may thus be used several times,only the end-piece 172 being consumed. This end-piece may also besweet-smelling or odoriferous. It is clear that the conduit shown inFIG. 17 may also be employed with plugs of tobacco of the same type asthat shown in the figure, in which the axial conduit 111 facilitatespenetration of the removable conduit.

In the forms of embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 17, the bottom wall has beendescribed as being constituted by a pastille or the extremity of a fullor partially hollow cylinder. but it is obvious that it may be formed byany other device acting as an obstacle to the direct flow of fresh air,and may take any useful form such as a sphere, etc., making it possibleto obtain, in combination with the conduit, all the advantages desired,

namely condensation of toxic vapors, superoxygenated combustion sourceresulting in a more complete combustion of the substances,superoxygenated axis over the whole length of the tobacco to be smoked,combustion source of ring shepe: resulting in a reduction of thecombustion temperature by the elimination of the centre of thecombustions source, the addition of relatively pure ambient air over thewhole length of the device to be smoked, along its axis, which coolsdown the smoke and proportionally reduces the virulence of the saidsmoke.

These advantages are fundamental since it is admitted that the lack ofoxygen at the axis of the cigarette or cigar and its high temperature(700 to 780C.) permit the vaporization of certain elements such aspolycyclic aromatic compounds and other compounds such as pyridineliberated by nicotine, a solubilizing solvent of the hydrocarbonsbelonging to the family of benzenes, together with others such ashydro-cyanic acid, ethanol, formaldehyde and the ketones, and includingradioactive substances such as polonium, the common action of which ininducing cancer is several times greater than that of thebenzo(A)-pyrene present in the tar produced by tobacco.

The invention hereinbefore described in respect of its various forms ofembodiment permits the association therewith of other elements such asfilter-tips of conventional types.

FIG. shows a cigarette provided at its suction extremity with a filter53 for filtering the air-smoke mixture before it reaches the smoker. Itis also possible to provide an external end-piece 65 adapted to fit onthe suction extremity of the cigarette as shown in FIG. 6, and thisend-piece may be of cardboard paper, cork or other suitable material,sweet-smelling or odoriferous, not thicker than the wrappers of thestandard filter tip, the combustion of which may cause an odourdisagreeable to the smoker, and indicating the necessity that he shouldstop smoking.

Similarly, with reference to pipes, the plug of tobacco shown in FIG. 16comprises a filter tip 164 stuck to the base of the pack of tobacco injuxtaposition to the fluid-tight bottom wall 162, and surroundedexternally by the ring 163 which may in its turn also be ofsweetsmclling or odoriferous material.

What I claim is:

1. In a cigarette or the like comprising an elongated body of tobaccolaterally encircled by a wrapper, said cigarette having an end to be litand a suction end; the improvement in which the body of tobacco has anair permeable duct extending longitudinally thereof from said lit endand terminating at a distance from said suction end in afluid-impervious end wall that occupies only a central portion of saidbody of tobacco and that is spaced inwardly from said wrapper, said endwall defining between itself and said wrapper an annulus filled entirelywith tobacco, the tobacco of said body extending a substantial distanceon the side of said end wall which is opposite said duct, the side wallsof said duct being airpermeable, said end wall having a diameter aboutthe same as the internal diameter of said duct.

2. A cigarette or the like as claimed in claim 1, said duct being emptyand being bounded by said body of tobacco.

3. A cigarette or the like as claimed in claim 1, in which said duct isbounded by a sheath of perforate material.

4. A cigarette or the like as claimed in claim 1, in which said duct isbounded by a sheath of fluidpermeable material.

5. a cigarette or the like as claimed in claim 1, in which said duct isbounded by a wall of perforate combustible material.

6. A cigarette or the like as claimed in claim 1, and a filter betweensaid end wall and said suction end, said filter being spaced from saidend wall by a portion of said body of tobacco.

7. A cigarette or the like as claimed in claim 1, said duct having aninternal diameter from one-eighth to one-half the diameter of thecigarette.

1. In a cigarette or the like comprising an elongated body of tobaccolaterally encircled by a wrapper, said cigarette having an end to be litand a suction end; the improvement in which the body of tobacco has anair-permeable duct extending longitudinally thereof from said lit endand terminating at a distance from said suction end in afluid-impervious end wall that occupies only a central portion of saidbody of tobacco and that is spaced inwardly from said wrapper, said endwall defining between itself and said wrapper an annulus filled entirelywith tobacco, the tobacco of said body extending a substantial distanceon the side of said end wall which is opposite said duct, the side wallsof said duct being airpermeable, said end wall having a diameter aboutthe same as the internal diameter of said duct.
 2. A cigarette or thelike as claimed in claim 1, said duct being empty and being bounded bysaid body of tobacco.
 3. A cigarette or the like as claimed in claim 1,in which said duct is bounded by a sheath of perforate material.
 4. Acigarette or the like as claimed in claim 1, in which said duct isbounded by a sheath of fluid-permeable material.
 5. a cigarette or thelike as claimed in claim 1, in which said duct is bounded by a wall ofperforate combustible material.
 6. A cigarette or the like as claimed inclaim 1, and a filter between said end wall and said suction end, saidfilter being spaced from said end wall by a portion of said body oftobacco.
 7. A cigarette or the like as claimed in claim 1, said ducthaving an internal diameter from one-eighth to one-half the diameter ofthe cigarette.